Running for a reason since 2015

I’ve so far resisted the piles of eggs that have accrued around me. With three weeks to go (three weeks!) until Marathon Day, this seems like a wise choice.

Lots to talk about today, despite not having managed my proposed long Easter run. I picked up an achilles tendon issue on Wednesday night, so am hoping that a few days rest will sort it out.

Since my last post, the main news is my survival of a sixteen-mile run around East London (on a FRIDAY NIGHT, no less – what have I become?). As I neared the last few miles, I whipped out my phone to snap the magnificent-looking Tower Bridge, at which point said phone promptly died, meaning Strava missed the final section:

I promise I did actually finish the run. PROMISE.

The following morning, I took part in the Bootstrap Fun Run 10k in Victoria Park, to raise money for their programmes to support young entrepreneurs in East London:

You can tell from how photogenic we look that this was the ‘before’ shot rather than the ‘after’.

I also visited Oxygen Freejumping trampoline park in Acton. With trampolines carpeting the floor and walls, and an assault course reminiscent of a miniature Takeshi’s Castle, this was a ridiculously fun way to test some underused muscles.

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Despite the tendon troubles, I managed to get out for a five-mile run in the countryside with my older sister on Saturday. We managed to (partly accidentally) co-ordinate our outfits in honour of #PurpleDay2016, a day of global epilepsy awareness. It’s awesome to see across social media just how many people have taken up this cause, to which I’m trying to contribute in my own small way.

It would be so, so appreciated if you could make a donation (no matter how small) to Epilepsy Research UK via my JustGiving page link below.

It’s now less than five weeks until Marathon Day, and you’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve decided to start taking things seriously.

In fact part of the reason for this overdue update is my much more regular running schedule. Having never been a morning person, I’m now managing to force myself out of bed earlier than ever before to clock some mileage before starting the day.

I’ve even complemented this regime by attending my first yoga class.

Walking into the changing rooms for the first time and immediately being confronted with another man’s penis, I very nearly turned around and walked back out.

But hey, it’s yoga man.

Yo-go with it.

I’d been hearing a lot about how practising yoga can be really helpful for runners, and after dipping an outstretched toe into it last week, I’ll be trying to make time for this on a regular basis now as well. At least everyone is clothed for the actual classes.

I also undertook an accidental twelve-mile run along the Thames last weekend.

Greenwich Foot TunnelHaving crossed from the Isle of Dogs via the Greenwich Foot Tunnel (opened in 1902), I thought I could cross back through another tunnel upriver.

Closed entrance of the Thames TunnelAs it turns out, the Thames Tunnel (completed in 1843) has been used exclusively by trains since 1869… Not quite sure what I was thinking there. I rerouted to cross Tower Bridge, which added a few extra miles, but was probably safer than the train tracks.

“I said to myself this is Los Angeles, we have some of the best doctors in the world, they must know what’s wrong with her. But nothing was diagnosed as epilepsy.”

Georgia has since responded really well to treatment, but there are thousands of others who don’t have access to this, or who haven’t even been properly diagnosed. I’m running to raise money for all these people, and anything you can give to help will be so, so appreciated.

You can visit my fundraising page below. Thanks so much for all your support. Not long to go now…

It’s going to require way more discipline over the next six weeks than I’ve had of late… but at least the sun came out this week!

I’ve just returned from this week’s Park Run at Mile End Park (literally, I haven’t even showered yet), and was a lot happier with my performance on this occasion. Turning up on time was a good start. So far these 5ks have been a really nice way to balance the longer stamina runs.

There were LOADS of people there. Thanks this week to the orange-shirted-and-shorted beardy man, who I just missed out on catching in the final straight. That sprint knocked a good few seconds off my time. And next week, I’m coming for you…

Donations to my fundraising pagefor Epilepsy Research UK have still been coming in, so a huge thank you to all my recent sponsors. ‘Purple Day’, an epilepsy awareness day started in 2008 by a young Canadian girl with the condition is coming up this year on 24th March. It’s now a global event which does a lot to boost fundraising and public awareness. I’ll probably be pestering you lovely people for support even more on that date so be prepared!

My JustGiving page is listed below as always. Donations all go towards increasing our understanding of treating this condition, which affects so many people’s lives on a daily basis.

Returning from a nice neat five-miler today, I was pretty happy to see that I’d managed to accidentally draw Bart Simpson’s head with my route. A big improvement on recent squiggles.

Small victories, eh?

I’d been planning on hitting the Wormwood Scrubs Park Run for a change of scene, but decided that sleep was the more pressing issue, so set off on a solitary jog around mid-morning. Dodging the crowd seemed to pay off, and I got a good look at a couple of declining West London landmarks on my way round.

First up was the BBC Television Centre, bastion of the Beeb since its opening in 1960. Having closed its doors in 2013, demolition work began earlier this month at this iconic site, which will be replaced by housing and leisure units within a couple of years. All you could see through the glass doors of reception was a cardboard cut-out of Chris Evans’ new Top Gear team, apparently left behind.

Wormwood Scrubs Prison was built a little further north in 1891. Over the years it has been host to an infamous IRA protest, as well as inmates including Charles Bronson, Keith Richards, and Pete Doherty. Along with the UK’s other Victorian prisons, Wormwood has been earmarked by the Justice Minister Michael Gove for potential closure.

These probably aren’t the kind of sights I’d be seeking out on a normal Saturday jaunt, so I’m glad that running has given me the chance to explore further afield. If anyone can suggest any other London locations for urban exploration then feel free to drop them in the comments!

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Epilepsy news this week mainly involved the publication of a report, endorsed here by the head of Epilepsy Society, pushing for improvement in diagnosis and treatment. There is a significant disparity up and down the country in the effectiveness of local services, at a time when neurological services in general are seemingly increasingly neglected.

Research into improving the treatment of this condition is ever more important, and is the reason why I’m running the Brighton Marathon this April (and it’s now almost March!?).

If you’ve been reading this blog but haven’t yet donated, please check out my page, and if you could give even a small amount towards the cause it would be immensely appreciated.

With less than two months to go, I’m at the stage where I’m just about running half the distance I’ll need to eventually, and I’m likewise almost halfway to my fundraising target. I’ve also noticed that running is becoming increasingly a part of my consciousness, even when I’m not actually doing it.

Can I call myself a runner yet?

I’ve been blabbing enough on social media by now for the M-word to come up at pretty much every dinner and party with friends. Even when I’m on my own, I’m worrying disproportionately about niggling injuries and how they affect next week’s run timetable.

I almost look like a proper runner as well, with my phone-holding arm strap thing, and a new stretchy long-sleeved under-top (ok, I don’t know all the jargon yet), prescribed for me by a girlfriend concerned about my elbow temperature.

I’ve also downloaded and listened to the two-part BBC Food Programme on running diets. The experts reckon that early humans were constantly on the run in search of food, much like wild pack animals today. Even the elderly and very young members of the group would keep up, which makes me feel slightly better about certain Park Runners that finished ahead of me last week…

Basically, I’m a long way off the Kenyans described in the programme, who pretty much run a marathon every morning and still have time to chill before lunch.

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In Epilepsy news, scare-mongering Daily Mail columnist and celebrity epileptic Katie Hopkins went into surgery yesterday to try and cure herself of the condition. I briefly saw Hopkins at an event two weeks ago and she seemed completely friendly and normal. She’s said some absolutely disgraceful things in her time, but it kind of makes you wonder how much of it is put on to make a name for herself. Anyway, it will be interesting from a researcher’s point of view to see what comes of the op.

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Big thanks are of course due once again to all you amazing people who have donated to my page recently. I’ve not been pushing it much outside of social media so if anyone has any ideas on how I can keep momentum please let me know. My figuring is that a lot of people giving just a little will go a long way.

I managed to make my second ever Park Run at the second attempt this morning. (Just.)

For the uninitiated, Park Run is a global phenomenon whereby thousands of runners of all ages and abilities get together to do a timed 5km round their local green space at 9am every Saturday.

In true Saturday morning style, I turned up at Mile End Park about two minutes after the race had started (despite legging it there from my building) but was allowed to join in anyway. Clearly, it wasn’t going to be the week to set a personal best, so instead I set my sights on catching whoever in front of me was wearing the most garish fluorescent running gear.

This gamification reached its satisfying conclusion when I was able to sprint past two human highlighters in the final straight.

Including the there-and-back, with a detour via the post office, the run totalled about nine miles, and resulted in a gloriously messy Strava route (although I’m not quite at the Claire Wyckoff level of artistic immaturity just yet – I recommend checking out her site if you haven’t already).

On a more serious note, I want to say another massive thank you to everyone who has donated to my page over the past week. I’ve gone from a quarter of my target filled to a third in no time, and I really can’t do justice here to how grateful I am to all. Special thanks to the mysterious ‘Patrice Le-bouf-douche-tete Zizezjg‘ for their generous contribution – if anyone knows the true identity of this benevolent soul then please let me know!

If you’re enjoying this blog, and my attempt to compliment it with actual running, it would be amazing if you could take a moment to share this and my Justgiving page with anyone else that might take an interest.

Feeling somewhat worse for wear after a weekend in Bristol, on Tuesday afternoon I made it round a squiggly-looking six-miler out to Canning Town and back via Stratford (as my new Strava account can attest to).

It was pretty windy up on the Greenway, and by the next day the man-flu was really kicking in. I’d intended my next update to be a triumphal post-Park Run Saturday Morning Special. Instead all I have for you is a load of snotty tissues and regret. Ironic, given that the topic of my last post was ‘health’…

Hoping to lay relatively low so I can hit the ground running next week.

On the upside, I am totally amazed by the donations that have already come in to my JustGiving page. Seeing the total starting to rise has made me more determined than ever to get out there next week and back on the horse. Thank you so much to everyone who’s already donated.

In epilepsy-related news, a few days ago it was announced that the first person in the UK to trial a treatment whereby a robot created a “sat-nav” of their brain, seems to have been “cured” of epilepsy. It’s still early days to tell if their condition is gone for good, but this story goes to show the amazing leaps forward that can be made by pioneering research and technology (which YOUR donations will be going towards).

Just a short one for today. Hopefully more running to talk about next week.